Salty Kelly

Ancestors

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Biography

Thomas was born in February 1951 to Peter Kelly and Eleanor Betts Kelly, the youngest of five children (Timothy, Patrick, Sheila, Daniel). His father died when he was only a year and a half.

He lived in Westlake, Ohio for the first part of his childhood, before the family moved to Avon Lake, Ohio - a few towns away. He attended Saint Joseph's School and then Avon Lake High School. He was intelligent, but had a strong anti-authority streak, which led to his leaving school before receiving his high school diploma.

He married Peggy Laffin on April 24, 1971. They honeymooned in Niagara Falls. In Avon Lake, the young couple rented a home that filled with their friends visiting or even temporarily living with them. He was a avid softball player, usually serving as the team's pitcher. It was a sport that he would play every summer for at least a decade.

In July of the next year, they welcomed a daughter, Nicole. Shortly after her birth, Thomas got a job working at the Ford Motor Company at the Brookpark Casting Plant. There, he remained at the company until his retirement. In 1989, he earned his GED. He said that he needed to get his high school diploma before his daughter did.

The family moved house a few times, always staying in Avon Lake, before purchasing a home on the eastern side of the town in the early 1980s. Thomas was a passionate fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, spending every Saturday in the fall glued to the TV. He was also a fan of the Cleveland Browns, the Cleveland Indians, and the (now defunct) Cleveland Lumberjacks. He worked in the yard and went for walks with his wife. He was gifted at making up silly songs and sly jokes. Although the couple did not travel much, he enjoyed visits to Florida and Arizona.

After an unidentified illness weakened him in early 2018, he passed away in June of that year. He will be greatly missed by his wife, daughter, and other family members and friends.

Sources

• Daughter's recollection